of the union address. a speech that will focus largely on the economy and the middle class. this as washington gets closer to yet another potential economic crisis. amy is a high school counselor from north glen, colorado. she has traveled to washington with other educators with a message for congress. >> that the time when we are looking at ways to keep our schools safer, these across the board cuts would impact those positions and those people who keep our schools safe. >> reporter: she's talking about the so-called sequester. $85 billion in spending cuts set to kick in march 1st, meant to be so egregious that lawmakers have to come to an agreement on deficit reduction. that has not happened and time is running out. >> if the sequester goes forward, thousands that work in national security, education, or clean energy are likely to be laid off. >> reporter: the cuts would amount to a 13% reduction to the military. >> this will badly damage our national defense and compromise our ability to respond to cris